(I kid, I kid.)

和敬清寂
wa.kei.sei.jaku

Literally: harmony – respect – purity – silence / loneliness

Alternately: A term from tea ceremony (茶道, sadou). The host and guests (are supposed to) create a pure (清) and tranquil (寂) atmosphere within the tea-room by opening themselves to each other (和) in mutual respect (敬).

Notes: This yojijukugo supposedly comes to us straight from the tea-master himself, Sen no Rikyū (千利休), who considered its elements to be the very soul of “the way of tea.”

That said, I mostly chose it because it contains 和, as a complement to last week’s post in recognition of the upcoming new era name 令和 (Reiwa).

There’s obviously a huge amount of nuance that I’m glossing over here; reader comments with clarifications or corrections are welcome.

From this fluff piece on the Skylark Times site